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Original poster

Do you think spiders are surprised when people are kind to them?

87 replies

bemorebernard · 19/09/2023 02:20

I found a fairly large spider in my bathroom sink tonight and he played dead

Only when I popped him into a beaker to put out did he show signs of life

He did a pretty good job of acting , I felt sorry for him

Do you think they just anticipate that people will try and kill them so they play dead to try and circumvent that? He seemed surprised when I put him out

And when he was curled up in a little ball he seemed a lot smaller . I really think he was a thinker .

OP posts:
SallyWD · 19/09/2023 07:40

I'm sure they don't think that deeply. Just play dead whoever there's a potential predator. I'm glad you saved it though. I always do too. I don't understand how people kill them so easily.

WeWereInParis · 19/09/2023 07:42

letmesailletmesail · 19/09/2023 07:24

Does anybody else just leave spiders where they are? We've must have a couple of dozen in the house at the moment, all up in the corners of the rooms. I've never really understood what the issue is.

I leave the spindly long legged ones (cellar spiders I think they're called?). I leave these because apparently they kill house spiders. Also they're pretty chilled, they stay in one place, and don't scare the shit out of me by shooting across the floor. When they move they kind of slowly amble across the wall. I don't mind them at all.

The big house spiders I do not leave. But I don't see many since I started leaving the cellar spiders.

In general I don't mind bugs/flies/spiders. I like bees, don't mind wasps, don't mind spiders outside etc. But I cannot deal with the big house spiders.

Bobsledgirl · 19/09/2023 07:42

I won’t kill any creature. It’s bad karma for a start!

NowWhattt · 19/09/2023 07:43

It has never occurred to me to do anything unkind to a spider. To kill them I think is evil and unnecessary. I would never or have never killed a spider and I think it would be a terrible example to set my children.
Leave them be. They aren’t bothering you . I understand people are for some reason scared of them but in that case get someone who isn’t scared to capture them. Or if you can’t get someone , pop a glass over them and do it yourself.

WeWereInParis · 19/09/2023 07:45

SallyWD · 19/09/2023 07:40

I'm sure they don't think that deeply. Just play dead whoever there's a potential predator. I'm glad you saved it though. I always do too. I don't understand how people kill them so easily.

From a quick Google, it doesn't sound like putting house spiders outside is saving them. It's just killing them slowly from exposure if they can't make it back in.

Coastalcreeksider · 19/09/2023 07:47

On Sunday night as I was about to go to bed, I opened the linen basket to drop items in and a large, dark brown garden spider dropped onto the floor. It really startled me and although I'm definitely not keen on them, I certainly wouldn't kill it.

I couldn't get to it very easily as it was on the floor at that point but it started to crawl up the wall so I rooted around in the drawers and found a nearly empty tub of body cream and used a bit of card from a packet of strepsils to trap it.

I did manage to catch it in the pot and put it out onto the roof where I am hoping like mad it doesn't get back in.

Ollifer · 19/09/2023 07:56

I absolutely hate spiders but would never harm them. I tried to capture one a couple of days ago he was huge and I accidentally trapped a couple of it's legs under the cup and I was horrified, they are still creatures at the end of the day, not their fault I'm petrified of them. They're petrified of us!

mrssanchez · 19/09/2023 09:36

So nice to have a more positive thread about spiders at last, there's an awful thread on a big Facebook group about how everyone hates them so much, I just don't understand why?
British spiders don't hurt you and can help keep other bugs down.

They are definitely terrified of us though, with good reason! I pick them up out of the bath so they don't drown when I use it but they don't realise I'm trying to help and just see a scary big hand trying to grab them, poor things. 🕷️

Phos · 19/09/2023 09:39

I don’t think arachnids have the range of emotions to feel surprise or gratitude. Probably survival instinct kicking in.

mrssanchez · 19/09/2023 09:40

And yes, before I get jumped on, I know phobias are real and you can't help them, I just don't see how quite so many people all seem to have the same phobia.
At school for instance, the whole class (of girls) would scream, that wouldn't happen for buttons, balloons, moths or whatever.

Original poster
bemorebernard · 19/09/2023 09:54

letmesailletmesail · 19/09/2023 07:24

Does anybody else just leave spiders where they are? We've must have a couple of dozen in the house at the moment, all up in the corners of the rooms. I've never really understood what the issue is.

I leave those
Ones where they are . This fella
In the sink wouldn't have got out - and when I say outside I also
Have a shed they go to but after seeing the largest one ever in there (would have been visible from space big 😂) I began to suspect they were being eaten by big daddy. Then all of a sudden they all disappeared and there was a cellar dude in there - they are cannibalistic.

OP posts:
3luckystars · 19/09/2023 09:58

I noticed that they hang around other dead spiders. Whenever I find a corner with a dead spider and cobwebs the other spiders are all hanging around there.
I think they like playing dead, it is their hobby.

3luckystars · 19/09/2023 09:59

Spider funerals go in for ages.

3luckystars · 19/09/2023 09:59

Especially Irish Spiders.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 19/09/2023 09:59

They set up shop in my bath. There’s always one there. And they a mahoosive.

I’ve been putting them outside, but now I’ve learnt l shouldn’t. Where should l put them?

l quite like spiders. They’re kind of cute.

Original poster
bemorebernard · 19/09/2023 10:00

I give the ones that just live in the corners names .

Ive had 3 in my bedroom for months . We have an understanding.

OP posts:
IslaWinds · 19/09/2023 10:04

mrssanchez · 19/09/2023 09:40

And yes, before I get jumped on, I know phobias are real and you can't help them, I just don't see how quite so many people all seem to have the same phobia.
At school for instance, the whole class (of girls) would scream, that wouldn't happen for buttons, balloons, moths or whatever.

I think arachnophobia is one of the top 3 phobias in existence which might explain why it is so common.

TarquinOliverNimrod · 19/09/2023 10:05

Bobsledgirl · 19/09/2023 07:42

I won’t kill any creature. It’s bad karma for a start!

Are you vegan?

Accipritidae · 19/09/2023 10:05

Most of the giant spiders you see in the house at this time of year are natives and it's perfectly fine to put them outside, according to the friendly spider programme at ZSL. They're almost always males at the end of their lifespan anyway, looking for an opportunity to mate (which is much deadlier than going outside).

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 19/09/2023 10:13

I often wonder how they percieve us at all. We must be the equivalent to a skyscraper size, surely?

I don't know what their distance vision is like - do they just see whatever bit is close to them, like a foot or a hand, and then it blurs into nothingness?

I've a spider phobia (no, I don't know why, or what I'm scared they'll do.) and I ask DP to put them in the garage. I can't put a glass over them myself because I physically can't get that close to them.

We have a deal that he is responsible for spiders, while I cover rodent and snake (more likely slow worm) related incidents.

parameciumparty · 19/09/2023 11:09

I love spiders and all are welcome in my home so long as they understand I have cats. They demonstrate their appreciation by clubbing together and buying me a hamper each Christmas, or at least they would if they could get to the shops 🤔🥰

Zipps · 19/09/2023 11:17

My spiders pay rent by killing all the flies and other nasties.

WildFlowerBees · 19/09/2023 11:22

After reading this a huge one casually wandered across my floor, I put him outside where he didn't move for ages. I was worried about him getting wet so I moved him to the garage. I don't think I'll get a Christmas card this year.

hamstersarse · 19/09/2023 11:27

I captured a large spider in a glass/paper trap the other day - he was GIANT and he definitely didn't play dead. He was going mental trying to escape. Fair play to him - I set him free in the garden and I enjoyed the thoughts of him rampaging around the garden, I could not for one second think about killing him.

A few months ago, I also had a spider in a lofty corner of my hallway that seemingly had captured hundreds of flies, but on closer inspection it was actually hundreds of baby spiders and the mother was still with them. For a split second I thought about killing them because the thought of 100 spiders being loose in the house seemed a bit too much, but that thought evaporated very quickly when I considered the mother sitting there watching her babies being destroyed, so yes, there are a lot of spiders being captured and released in my house at the moment. I kind of like it that the babies were given a chance.

Bobsledgirl · 19/09/2023 12:31

I am